Output of Taiwan's IC industry rebounds in Q2

2012/08/18 15:14:57

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) The production value of Taiwan's integrated circuit (IC) sector for the second quarter of this year rebounded from the previous quarter, despite the gloomy global economy, according to a government report.

Second-quarter output of the local IC industry, including design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, was up 16.4 percent from the previous quarter at NT$419.3 billion (US$13.96 billion), the Industry and Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) report said.

The ITIS, a research institute under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, attributed the rise to a growing demand for smartphones and digital TVs in China.

The ITIS added that Taiwan's IC designers have taken up more business in the market for low-priced mobile handsets.

The output of the IC design industry alone reached NT$101 billion in the second quarter, up 12.8 percent from the first three months of the year, the statistics show.

Looking ahead, although the third quarter is traditionally a high season in the industry, the performance might not be as good as usual due to a conservative outlook on the global economy, the ITIS said.

The eurozone debt crisis and weak U.S. and China markets all cast a shadow over the economic outlook, it added.

The total output of the local IC industry for the third quarter is expected to rise 7.2 percent from the second quarter to hit NT$449.4 billion.

For the whole of 2012, the production value of the local IC industry is expected to reach NT$1.67 trillion, up 6.9 percent from 2011, on the back of solid sales of smartphones, tablet computers and ultrabooks, the ITIS said.